


Instinct

by copperboom16



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/F, Romance, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 03:44:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7492161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copperboom16/pseuds/copperboom16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's quite a shock at how quickly the outbreak occurs. Emma Swan has to traverse the landscapes of Maine and hope to stay alive. With the help of some and her gut instincts, she quickly realizes that while the world may have gone to Hell, she may have found her Heaven. Eventual SwanQueen. Zombie AU. Warnings inside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Instinct

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've written for OUAT, specifically SQ. It's also the first thing I've written in awhile, so I hope that I can manage to capture the character's personalities and do them justice. If not, I hope to at least provide a decent read. Happy reading! :)

Why? Why. Why. WHY. 

It was the only word running through Emma’s head at the moment. She couldn’t spare the extra brain energy on anything else. 

Well, nothing but the word ‘why’ and the focus it took for her to run. And run. And run. And run some more. She was entirely sure that she had never run so much, or so fast, in her entire life. And, as a self-proclaimed runner from, well, practically everything, that was saying a lot. 

Of course, the ‘why’ that was on repeat in her head could be interpreted in a variety of ways. For example, it could be “why did I leave without my gun?” or “why is this even happening?” or just “why?” in general. She didn’t know. She didn’t care. It probably meant all of the above. But she couldn’t dwell on it for too long. She had to keep running. 

 

Running from them.  


* * *

__

_It all happened so...quickly. One day she was living in Augusta, Maine waitressing at some diner and the next she was high-tailing it through the outskirts of town with nothing but a backpack full of supplies. Emma didn’t even know what direction she was headed, she just knew she had to leave. And leave as soon as possible._

_Panic had broken out as soon as news of the outbreak caught fire. People were scrambling across the city, trying to find their loved ones, loot any stores for food and water, and board up their houses as best as they could. Some families tried to get out of town, but traffic proved difficult. No one knew where to turn and with the government in shambles, citizens were left to their own devices. It was all out chaos. They just knew that they had to survive._

_Emma was lucky and had been off of work when the news broke. She quickly grabbed what food and water she had, grabbed her registered pistol, a change of clothes, and a couple of sentimental things. For someone who never had many material things to begin with, she was packed and out the door in fifteen minutes. She attempted to take her trusty yellow bug with her, but the streets were too crowded with looters and people trying to flee. She quickly abandoned it outside of her apartment building before taking off in the direction of the woods. Figuring staying out of sight was the best way to go, she traveled by alley until the buildings started to space out. Then she stuck as close to the remaining buildings as possible for cover. Thankfully, she didn’t run into any of them while on her pursuit out of the city._

_Until she got to the woods._  
  


* * *

Emma started to slow down after about thirty minutes of running. She wasn’t sure where she was exactly, as there were no structures for landmarks, but she figured she could attempt to travel back tomorrow. Traveling with no protection was not only unsafe, but stupid. If she didn’t run into any more of those things she was likely to run into some other people who would likely try to take what little she had, including her dignity.

Let’s just say that when the world went to shit, it went to complete and utter shit. 

Thankfully, she had run into some sort of run down cabin. More like shack, she thought. But it would suffice until dawn. Nighttime was probably more dangerous than the daytime. It’s almost like those things are nocturnal and get hungrier at night. 

Walking as quietly as possible around the cabin, she peaked into the dusty windows, but it was dark inside and almost impossible to see what, if anything, was lurking inside. Glancing around the trees around her, and seeing nothing, she decided to knock on the outside of the wall. Noise draws them, but with only a small hunting knife as protection, she was hoping that there wouldn’t be any more than two inside, if any at all. 

Not hearing any noise from inside, Emma decided to test her luck and pushed open the door. Peeking around the frame, she could see more clearly into the small dwelling, and saw that it was mainly one room, with, what was probably, a small restroom off to one corner.

Luckily, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It actually seemed like the place hadn’t been touched at all since before the outbreak. Quickly shutting the door behind her, she moved over to the small loveseat and started to push it in front of the opening. Hopefully that will keep everything out so I can sleep for a bit before morning. She walked over to the kitchenette and started rummaging through the cabinets. Finding some canned food that was, fortunately, not expired yet, along with a couple of bottles of water, she made a quick search for a can opener, but came up empty. Digging her knife out of her pocket, she jammed it into the lid of the can of baked beans and cut the metal away. 

Grabbing a metal camping bowl and plastic spoon, she ate in silence and thought about how she was going to get back to where she came from in the morning. If luck was on her side, she wouldn’t end up going in the completely wrong direction or run into anything. 

She had to get back. Soon.  


* * *

__  
Emma didn’t know how many days she had been walking, but it was getting tiresome. She had run into a couple of the undead, but nothing she couldn’t take out with a hunting knife she found. She didn’t want to use the bullets she had unless she absolutely had to. Plus, the noise would’ve attracted them, which is the opposite of what she wanted to do. Her meager food supplies were almost out, though, and she only had one bottle of water left. While it wasn’t summer, September still had some humidity and being constantly on the run didn’t help.  


_She hadn’t seen any people or houses in awhile, so she assumed that she was deep into the Maine forests at this time. She hadn’t been in Maine long enough to know the surrounding areas around Augusta so she was completely clueless. She was traveling on her gut feeling and hoped that it wouldn’t steer her wrong. So far, so good._

_Emma had been walking along a small creek for over an hour, looking for some type of food, hopefully in the form of a rabbit or bird, that she could eat when she heard the first cry._

_“No! Please! He’s my son!”_

_Emma didn’t know what made her walk in the direction of the shouting, but she felt drawn to it. Creeping as quietly as she could as to not alert them of her presence, she snuck behind a large tree. She saw a middle aged woman with short black hair standing in front of a bulky, gruff looking man and a small child._

_“Leave him alone and you can have our supplies. We have food and water and a handgun with a little ammo. You can have it all, just leave us alone. Please,” the woman cried._

_Emma could clearly see how distraught the woman was and how frightened the young boy was. She could see him shaking from behind her hiding spot. Not knowing why, Emma drew her gun and crept from her cover._

_The man and the boy were facing away from her, with the woman in front of them. Putting her finger to her mouth, she instructed the woman to stay silent. With a slight nod from the woman, and another plea of “please, he’s just a boy,” Emma was able to sneak right up to the pair with no notice._

_“Take your hands off of the boy and walk away before I blow your brains out,” Emma snarled._

_The man visibly tensed, not having heard her approach, before trying to see who had a gun to his head. Emma took notice of the boy shrinking further down, while still having his hand held by the man. The man didn’t move._

_“Do it before I count to three or I’m shooting you in the thigh and leaving you here for dead,” she threatened._

_Still, the man didn’t move. “I don’t know who you think you are, lady, but I’m getting what I came for.”_

_“One.”_

_The man growled and looked down at the boy before glancing at the woman, who was still crying._

_“Two.” Emma cocked the gun._

_He released his grip on the boy, who promptly ran to his mother, who bent down and picked him up, cradling him to her chest, while keeping her eyes on the strangers before her, impatiently awaiting how the events would unfold. And if she could trust this new, blonde stranger._

_“Now turn to your left and keep walking. If you even so much as glance back in this direction, I will shoot you with no hesitation.”_

_Emma didn’t know what she did to deserve a break like this, but the man took his leave. She honestly expected a bigger fight. He probably realized that with her gun and the brunette’s gun, he stood no chance of leaving unharmed. But just because she caught a break didn’t mean she didn’t take her eyes off of him until she could no longer see him._

_Completely forgetting about the woman and child she had saved from robbery and God knows what else, Emma was startled by the voice beside her._

_“Thank you. So much. I don’t know what would have happened without you,” the woman said, still visibly shaken by the ordeal._

_“It’s no problem, really. I just hope the kid isn’t too shook up,” Emma said glancing at the cowering child behind his mother’s legs._

_The woman smiled down at the boy, “This is my son, Henry. Henry, what do you say?”_

_Emma could barely make out the whispered, “Thank you.”_

_Crouching down so she was eye-level with him, “Hey, Henry. My name’s Emma Swan. How old are you, kid?”_

_Another whisper. “Seven.”_

_“Seven? Wow. That’s my lucky number. It must have been fate for me to find you guys when I did, huh?”_

_A meek nod was all she got, but she smiled in return. Standing back up, Emma finally noticed the other woman fully. She was about Emma’s height, with incredibly dark brown hair, with eyes to match. Plump lips were complemented by a scar on one side, which Emma wondered about, but didn’t mention. Curves were still visible even in dirty, torn, slightly loose fitting clothes. She was undoubtedly attractive and Emma was almost sad to acknowledge she’d probably never see these two again._

_“I’m Regina, by the way. I know what we have is not much, but can we offer you some food, as a way to properly say thank you?”_

_Maybe Emma didn’t have to worry about being alone again._

_Yet._

* * *

__  
Dawn broke more rapidly than Emma was prepared for. It felt like she hadn’t slept at all during the night, being overly cautious of every sound inside and outside of the cabin. Thankfully, there was only one infected being last night, but it had walked by without picking up on Emma’s scent. The undead had an incredible nose, so she wasn’t sure how it didn’t smell her, but she wasn’t going to question it.

Gathering what little supplies she found in the cabin and stuffing them in a drawstring bag she found in one of the cupboards, Emma pushed the couch away from the door and crept the door open. She had looked out of the few windows the cabin had and didn’t seem any infected within the area, but she checked again before leaving the safety of the structure. 

Not noticing any rustling, she crept out of the cabin and tried to remember which direction she had come from the previous night. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wonder long; she had been running so hard she had left tracks in the dirt. Taking off in that direction, she thought back to the day when her life had completely changed.  


* * *

__  
Emma had followed Regina and Henry over to a tent surrounded by twigs and leaves. It had looked like they had been there for awhile and Regina had tried to camouflage the tent so it would be less noticeable to people walking by and hopefully the infected, too.

_She stayed outside and watched as Regina and Henry both ducked into the tent, returning moments later with bottles of water for each of them, a small pot, and a couple of cans of chicken noodle soup. Emma’s eyes widened at the sight; she hadn’t properly eaten in days and her stomach grumbled._

_Which, of course, Regina heard._

_“Hungry, dear?” Regina smirked._

_“I haven’t eaten properly in days. And I think the last thing I ate was half a sleeve of stale crackers,” Emma shrugged. She didn’t want to appear too eager._

_Regina’s smirk lessened and her brows furrowed. “Did you not pack supplies before the outbreak?”_

_Emma shook her head. “I didn’t stick around. I heard the news, gathered some things, and took out of the city before I had a chance to really consider a plan. I didn’t want to see what the city was going to turn into.”_

_“Where did you live?”_

_“I’ve moved all over, but my most recent home was in Augusta. How about you and the kid?”_

_“Boston. It took us a lot longer to get out of the city than anticipated,” Regina said, looking forlornly. “We ran into some issues along the way. I thought that getting out of the city would be the best for us both, but it seems that we can’t outrun trouble,” she said, glancing at Henry, who had made himself useful at gathering twigs for a fire. He made sure to stay within sight and seemed to be within hearing distance of their conversation, as he, too, had a sad expression on his face._

_“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve luckily not run into much trouble, human or infected, until today. But at least the outcome was positive.”_

_Regina just smiled in return, while using a match to start the fire. Once the twigs were on fire, she placed a stand over the embers to place the small campfire pot on before dumping in the cans of soup. She sat down on a log before motioning for Henry to do the same. Emma sat opposite of them both on the ground._

_“So. What’re your plans?” Emma asked curiously._

_“Plans?”_

_“Yeah. Do you intend to stay here or move on?”_

_“Oh. Well. I suppose that now we shall need to move, but I’m not sure where. I don’t know the area well nor do I have much confidence in my abilities to protect my son and I. Hopefully we can find another part of the woods to settle in.”_

_Emma looked slightly puzzled at that. “What do you mean you don’t have confidence?”_

_“I’ve never shot a gun. The ones that I have are not mine. I found them in abandoned cars or houses on our way here. I’m also not good at hand to hand combat or knife fighting. I’m sure if you had not arrived when you did today, that man would have taken our supplies....among other things,” she said, looking down at Henry. Emma understood what she meant._

_“Well, I don’t want to put you in an awkward position, but I can stay with you guys, if you want. I don’t have family or friends here, so I was on my own. Plus, I know how to use a gun and I’m a fair fighter.”_

_Regina looked at Emma curiously. “Why would you offer that?”_

_“Honestly? I don’t want to be alone. It gets tough out here. Having an extra pair of eyes and ears can never hurt. Plus, you and the kid seem like good people.”_

_Emma watched as Henry’s eyes lit up at the confession. Regina smiled slightly at him. She looked back up at Emma with a playfulness in her eyes. “Are you sure it’s not because we have food?”_

_Emma laughed lightly. “That may just be an extra perk. You share your food, I’ll share my skills of protection. And I’ll find us some place to stay that’s not a tent in the woods that’s likely to be discovered by people and...animals,” Emma said peeking at Henry._

_Regina watched Emma closely, almost as if judging her sincerity by her looks. As of now, she had no ill-will towards the blonde, but she really didn’t know her. Her gut, though, was telling her she could trust this stranger with not only her life, but her son’s. She just hoped that it wasn’t wrong._

_Regina stuck her hand out. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Ms. Swan.”  
_


End file.
